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The Definition of Marketing

Anybody that has studied any aspect of marketing in even the slightest depth will know that there are numerous definitions of what the discipline precisely is, all of them subtly different.

Did you know that the American Marketing Association, one of the best-known marketing bodies in the world, revisits the definition of marketing every five years in a disciplined effort to reflect on the state of the marketing field?

The American Marketing Association’s definition is used in books, by marketing professionals, and taught in university lecture halls across the US and indeed around the world. As of January 2008, the new definition reads:

Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.

The previous definition stated:

Marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders.

Do you agree with this updated definition? If it was up to you, what would your definition of marketing be? Are you interested in finding out more about marketing theory and practice by attending one of our marketing training courses? To find out more click here.